Abstract: The earliest material testing machine only could be used to measure the force by the principle of lever. The lever was both a loading device and a force measuring device. Up to 1833, Franz Joseph Ritter von Gerstner (1756—1832, German applied mechanics scientist) designed a lever-type strain gauge to realize the simultaneous test of force and deformation, which was of great significance in the experimental determination of materials mechanical properties. In the 18th to 19th centuries, people urgently needed material testing machines to measure the mechanical properties of materials to ensure the safety and quality of industrial products with the industrial development such as bridges, railways, boilers, and military industries. However, the testing machines in this period were only designed for specific purposes and were not products themselves. With the expansion of testing requirements, in 1879, the American (Norwegian immigrant) engineer Tinius Olsen (1845—1932) integrated tension, compression and lateral loading into one device and designed the first universal testing machine. Subsequently, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) was established, and material testing began to be standardized.